There have been a lot of stereotypes banded around in the media this
week. None of them I recognise, ALL of them offensive. Whatever you say
to people they have this image in their head of what a 'teen mum' is
and they will not change it. So, I thought I'd have a go at creating my
own young mum stereotypes*.

The old-before-her-time young mum.You
know the girl who has looked like a mum since she was 11? She organises
everyone and everything, sorts everyone else out and always puts her
hand up first to volunteer-that's if she's not the one asking for
volunteers. She gets pregnant young but no-one gives her a second look
because she already looks middle age and carries more confidence that
any teacher at school. She is in her element having children, the more
children she has the more organised she gets. She has a million other
projects going on too, all of them she is in charge of. She is also the mum teaching all the older mums to breastfeed. This girl does
not sit down and never looks tired. No one is sure if a dad is around
or not but if he is you can be sure he is doing exactly as he's told.

The student young mumYou
sometimes see this pretty student mum around college with her shiny
mahogany hair and retro school bag. She looks like a normal student but
there's something else there that's driving her to get those top
grades. She appears lost sometimes and part of you wants to scoop her
up and look after her, then you see her with her child and realise
she's exactly where she want to be, and she's gonna be fine, more than
fine in fact. Next time you see her she'll have probably just graduated
from Oxford or somewhere.

The hippy young mumHippy
mum does her own thing. She knits, sews, bakes, she may even home
school her kids. Hippy mum hates convention and doing things just
because other people think its right. Her kids are messy but loved,
hectic but always entertained. People may look down on her but shes
hasn't even noticed-She's too busy making jam or tie dying kid's
t-shirts.

The in-love young mumThe
in love mum is one half on the sickening couple that used to walk round
school holding hands. They would frequently be seen snogging on the
bench at lunch times. They share an email address like
katieandpaul@hotmail.com. They call each other's parents mum and dad. In
fact, you don't know whose family is whose it's all so intertwined. Of
course they have a baby when they're young. They have been together
since they were both 6. 10 years together and they are practically an
old married couple. Having kids is the natural progression to complete
to picture. You gotta admit its sweet, if slightly sickly, and Paul
will work his butt off to provide for his little traditional family.

The hard-as-nails young mumHard
as nails mum is a strong independent women. She may have had a tough
upbringing and as a teenager was a total nightmare. Its likely she was
into drink and drugs and all that stuff. That is, until the day she
finds out she's up the duff. From that on this girl becomes 'hard as
nails mum'-all that rebelious energy she has goes into doing everything
she possibly can for her child and she doesn't care about anything
else. If you dare to look down at her or her child she will tell you
exactly what she thinks of you. Nothing will come in the way of this
mum providing for her family. She will rely on no one to ensure that no
one lets them down. Underneath it though she has a heart of gold.

*none of these are based on real people and I apologise if you notice any similarities with yourself!